She sat quietly and just watched, keeping notes about what the animals did and how they behaved. She was very careful to respect their space and not to intrude. Then, at last, the chimpanzees let Jane see them. She was patient, just as she had been when she was a girl, watching and waiting for weeks and then months. Every day she went into the forest and every day she heard the chimpanzees, but she did not see them. Jane was given the job and she set out to watch and get to know the chimpanzees in the forest. Jane left her home, taking a ship to Africa where she hoped that she would be able to get a job that would allow her to work with animals.īy sheer good luck Jane met a scientist, Louis Leakey, who needed someone to watch and study chimpanzees in a place called Gombe in Tanzania. She was determined to save up enough so that she could afford a ticket to Kenya, and one day she had enough money to get the ticket. When Jane’s school days were over Jane worked and saved her money.

She dreamed of going to Africa where she too would talk and live with animals. Dolittle, who could talk to animals, and Tarzan, who lived with apes in Africa. When nesting season began the robin was so used to Jane that it built a nest in a bookcase in Jane’s room. She was patient and one spring she spent weeks watching a robin, gaining the bird’s trust. Even when she was a very little girl she spent a lot of time watching the animals in her world, both wild animals and those that lived with humans.

The Watcher by Jeanette Winter